We watched the remake of “V” tonight on ABC. I’ve only watched bits and pieces from the original TV series, but this is besides the point, since this is supposed to be a full reboot of the show.

So basically, “V” is mediocre at best.

The problem is that the episode felt rushed and disconnected. It felt like a 2 hour pilot, cut into 1 hour. Things just go too fast and we don’t have the time to really see the reactions of the world on this new major situation.

Adding to that is the unbelievable behavior of people towards the aliens. When the original message off of the spaceship is done, everyone claps their hands and welcomes the new world order. If that was a real life scenario, people would just panic and loot everything in front of them. No one in their right mind would believe that message of peace. Or when that anti-V terrorist finds out that his old friend is actually alien he seems to accept it and go on by his business instead of showing even a small shred of disapproval.

And, oh, did I say “aliens”? Sorry about that. It’s “Vs” (pronounced vees), or “Visitors”. No one is calling them what they really are, aliens that is. Apparently ABC had a problem making it an alien show, of fear of alienating housewives (get it?).

Finally, there was very little mystery left in the series after the first 45 minutes. Two guys already getting revealed as aliens instead of one of them, or none. The show feels like it’s a cold-told tale of things happening to a few people we care nothing about rather than adding mystery, and making it a high-impact plot to the whole of the planet (we need to SEE it rather than just brush it off like nothing happened and accept the new world order out of thin air). Where is the UN and US government and military of the world in all this? UN got referenced but we see nothing that went on in that building.

Overall, just like “Flash Forward”, and “Heroes” before that, “V” is a good idea with a bad implementation. I don’t understand how some people can screw up a production so much. I wonder if the only talented TV writers left in the world are Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. At least these two guys can only screw up romantic plots, but when it comes to action/mystery/thrill, they know their shit.

I think you might be missing what the actual show is about. It’s not a “Independence Day” style movie where the main plot is about meeting aliens. Instead, is a retelling of the Nazi takeover of Europe in WWII (see wikipedia). As such the plot will center more around the rebellion of the humans against an already existing alien presence, instead of the “first” battle.

An let’s be honest, in this day, with the US healthcare debate, AIDS, H1N1, if aliens showed up today and healed everyone…yeah…we’d fall in line like good little lemmings.

I think they could still seriously mess this up (like post season 1 of Heroes), but so I’ll give it a bit more time. If nothing else, it’s better than SGU.

As a fan of the original V I just cant help but think: was this really necessary? Are there no people with even remotely unique ideas left in the U.S entertainment industry?
As I loved the original as a young teen i no doubt will be dissapointed with this no matter what. Granted the original had some lame stuff (like that “heartthrob” Kyle guy) but on the other hand it had Michael Ironside, Robert Englund and Jane Badler.
I also seem to recall that it took at least a few episodes before the alien secret was revealed in the original.
Did I mention it Michael Ironside is in it?

I don’t agree with you that people would just loot and panic. People are smarter than you give them credit for. Clapping shows stupidity in the other direction and that part I agree with. People are smarter than that. They’d instantly think “Ok whats the catch.”

BUT! As someone who really wishes people would stop praising Obama and actually hold him to his campaign promises this did hit close to home. Why aren’t we out of Iraq yet? Replacing US troops with contractors is. . . not the answer. Nothing “Change” there. All the Anti-War left just lost their brains in their awe of the man. Like in V! 🙂

Would be nice if the writers could figure out a way of justify this strange un-human behavior. Massive telekenetik “trust” waves or something.

Eugenia, I think the reason why I liked it was because it didn’t dddrrrrrraaaaaag out like Flash Forward does. Flash Forward throws these itty bitty pathetic little hints of a story arc each week and makes me want to just hurl something at the TV. Your probably right in that V swings it too far the other way with rushing through things. What could have been a whole episode of finding out that a key character is actually a Visitor turns into a single scene. But its a nice change for me. Its for the “Just tell the story already!” crowd. 🙂

And William hit’s the nail on the head by pointing out the major reason why I stopped watching Heroes after season 1, Lost after season 1.5, am about 4 eps from dropping SGU. Allot of modern shows go on and on, and on but never really tell a story.

SGU and Lost are both snorefests, because they basically come down to tiny bits of plot interspersed with people beating the tar out of Rush/Sawyer.

Oh, and the fight scene at the end of this first ep of V was great! Brutal, deadly, and totally un-expected.

Oh, I like to tell the story, but I don’t want it rushed either. I actually like the way LOST is setup in terms of pace. Some people don’t, but I like it.

> the plot will center more around the rebellion of the humans against an already existing alien presence, instead of the â€œfirstâ€ battle.

Just because the original was like that it doesn’t have to be like this for the reboot. I found the story completely UNBELIEVABLE. It rushed through all the “here we are” plot and went directly into a rebellion. Maybe they should have started with the Visitors being there 3 years already. Because the way it is done now, it just feels laughable to me.